Manufacture of large permeable packages of rayon



y 1946- J. J. POLAK ET AL 2,404,742

MANUFACTURE OF LARGE PERMEABLE PACKAGES OF RAYON Filed Oct. 25, 1942 JmwJPo/al M I Ari/Earl. Jdas'am Patented July 23, 1946 MANUFACTURE OF LARGE PERMEABLE PACKAGES OF RAYON James J. Polak and Arthur L. Jackson, "West Asheville, N. C., assignors to American Enka Corporation, Enka, N. 0., a. corporation of Delaware Application October 23, 1942, Serial No. 463,125

6 Claims.

. This invention relates to the manufacture of rayon threadand thelike. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for spinning large packages of rayon thread which are highly permeable and, consequently, may be easily andyquickly washed and otherwise aftertreated.

,According to conventional practice in the rayon industry, for example, in the manufacture of rayon by. the viscose process, a viscose solution ise xtruded from a spinneret into an acid precipitating bath to for-mfilaments. Upon withdrawal .irom the bath the formed thread is led to a collecting, device, such as a bobbin or a centrifugal pot. .Both bobbin spinning and pot spinning are. necessarily intermittent processes for the manufacture of rayon thread, and since the spinning cycle must be interrupted each time a full bobbin or cake is collected, it is obvious that a longer spinning period with the production of larger. and heavier thread packages having greater lengths of continuous thread wound thereon would be accompanied by substantial savings in time and labor. This saving, of course, would not be confined to the spinning process per se, but would be carried over into subsequent handling operations where economies in time and labor would be directly proportional to the size of the package. V

"Rayon thread normally produced by conventionalmachinery is wound into a compact package ofiering considerable resistance to the passage of liquids with which the thread is Washed and treated. Inasmuch as impurities retained by thejthread irom 'the spinning operation harmfully affectthe physical properties of the thread if left in contact therewith too long, and the action of the washing liquid itself likewise endangers the quality of the thread, the size of the package been determined by the time required for treatment thereof, and the importance of thorpattern and tension-controlling mechanisms, in

2 addition to the conventional spinning machinery, in order to render the package fluid permeable.

The present invention is designed to efiect substantial economies in, both spinning and subsequent handling, and has for its object the production of a large, highly permeable package of continuous rayon thread. Y 1

Another object is the provision of a simplified method and apparatus for spinning rayon thread. A further object is the production of a loosely wound thread package which may be readily unwound without tangling.

With these and, other objects in view,.;t he invention contemplatesthe winding of rayon thread under substantially no tension, in a slowly rotating can which, in addition to revolving about its own axis, also revolves about an axis spaced therefrom. The package thus wound consists of loose rings built up in layers to form a. package of any desired dimensions, dep endingupon the size of can selected and the package weight desired. With the present method and apparatus, rayon packages-weighing ten pounds or more may be spun,

washedland aftertreated in the can in a rela tively short time.

' Advantages of this invention may be; more readily apparent when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein Fig. ,1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for carrying out the invention, shown in conjunctron with a conventional two-bath spinningsystern, l

Fig. .2 is aperspective View in detail of the mechanism for driving the can shownv in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 shows thepattern of the package proe ducedby the apparatus of Fig. 1,

Fig. .4 shows a modified form of packa e that may be produced according to the present inven-.

tion, and

n Fig. 5 shows still another pattern that maybe produced by the present invention. V

In Fig. 1 is shown a conventional two-bath spinning system for use in manufacturing-strong yarn, and which is particularlyadaptedto the production of heavy denier, strong yarn such as may be employed in the production of cords for reinforcing pneumatic tires and thelike. ,The systemcomprises generally a trough l divided bya partition 2 to form a coagulating bath -3 and treating bath 4. Spinning solution taken from a source of supply, not shown, is. extruded from a;

spinneretfi immersed in coagulating baths and is withdrawn therefrom in the form' of a thread 6. .Thread 6 is withdrawn from bath 3 ata con:

stant rate of speed by a roller assembly comprising driven roller or godet I and guide roller 8, about which the thread is Wrapped a plurality of times. idler roller 9 immersed in treating bath l and thence to a secondroller assembly comprising a driven godet I and guide roller ll, about which the thread is wrapped a plurality of times.

Preferably the temperature of the treating bath 4 is above 60 C., and godet I0 is driven at a higher peripheral speed than roller 1 so that the thread may be subjected to a rather high stretch there-between. Upon leaving godet lo the thread is led to, and wound a plurality of turns around a third roller assembly comprising godet l2 and guide I3, and thence is allowed to fall by gravity into an open-top, cylindrical receptacle or can I4. Although further tensioning of the thread may take place between godet IO and godet I2, the function of godet I2 is primarily that of directing the thread into can 14, and for this reason is positioned directly thereabove. Therefore, it is clear that godet l2 may, if desired, be eliminated and its position taken by godet ID, or godet in may be dispensed with and the thread lead directly from treating bath 4 to godet l2. Can I4 is mounted for axial rotation upon a shaft (see Fig. 2) projecting through an opening in a plate I6. On the lower end of shaft I5 is mounted a gear wheel ll. Plate'l6 is affixed to a shaft l3 for axial rotation therewith, and shaft [8-, in turn, is mounted for rotation in bearing [9 supported by a standard 29 Also affixed to shaft l8is a worm wheel 2| which engages a worm 22 mounted upon a shaft 23' driven from any suitable source of power, not shown. Loosely mounted upon shaft I8, for independent rotation with respect thereto, is a worm wheel 24, connected by a sleeve 25 to agear wheel 25. Worm wheel 24 meshes with a worm 21, mounted upon a shaft 28 and is driven through a reduction gearing, not shown, from the same source that drives shaft 23. The motion of shaft 28 is communicated to shaft l5 and can M by a gear wheel 29, engaging gears l1 and 26 and afiixed to a shaft 30 mounted in plate l6.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are-illustrations of thread patterns that may be formed in the collecting device by utilizing the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each thread ring being formed by rotation of plate l6 and the displacement of successive rings being effected by the rotation of can [4 about its axis. Since only slight displacement is necessary to prevent the superimposition of successive rings of thread, the ratio of the number of revolutions of plate It to that of can [4 may be quite large, and successive rings are laid to form an annular series such as is shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. For example, if plate I6 is rotated at about 16 R. P. M., can [4 may be revolved at about /64 R. P. M. to produce packages such as are shown in the drawing. The size and position of the thread rings may be varied by adjusting the position of shaft IS with respect to the axis of plate It. For example, the diameter of a single thread ring may be equal to or less than the radius of the can, and the rings laid between the center of the can and the wall thereof'as in Figs. 3 and4; or the diameter of the thread ring may be greater than the radius of the can so that the ring extends from the wall of the canto a point beyond the center thereof, in which case each thread ring overlaps the'other as shown'in Fig. 5. Likewise, instead From roller I the thread is led about an of being rotated continuously at a low speed, can l4 may be operated intermittently, for a portion of a revolution, upon the completion of each revolution of the plate. Thi could be effected by any suitable means such as a ratchet and pawl or other. mechanism for periodically tripping gear I! and causing rotation thereof.

The package built up in can I4 is soft and highly permeable, and has the further advantage that it may be readily unwound direct from the can without danger of tangling. Further, the thread package may be washed and otherwise af'tertreated in the can in a very short time without removal of the package, then dried and transferred directly to other textile machines for rewinding into forms suitable for use by fabric manufacturers. effected by the elimination of. a number of intermediate steps between spinning and winding into a merchantable form required in the normal production of rayon by conventional machinery.

When employing the present invention in the production of heavy denier thread for use in reinforcing pneumatic tires, where it is required that the final product possess a minimum elongation, a number of cans l4 carrying large, freshly spun packages of thread which have been previously treated, with or without drying, are con-.

. and the cans conveyed directly from the spinning machine to the slasher. In such case the threads, upon withdrawal from the cans, may be led through treating baths prior to their re-i c-eption by the rollers of the slasher proper.

The foregoing description is illustrative only, and it should be understood that modifications may be made in the invention without departing fro-m the spirit thereof. Therefore, the invention should be limited only by the cope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus. for winding freshly spun viscose thread comprising a plate mounted for rotation about a pivot point, a cylindrical container mounted upon said plate at a point spaced from said pivot point for rotation upon its own axis, and two separate and independent means for rotating said plate and said container at different speeds.

2. An apparatus for winding freshly spun viscose thread comprising a plate mounted for rotation about a pivot point, a cylindrical container mounted upon said plate at a point spaced from said .pivot'point for rotation upon its own axis, means for rotating said container, and separate means for rotating said plate at a higher l rate of speed than said container.

3. An apparatus for winding freshly spun viscose thread comprising a plate mounted for rotation about a pivot'p'oint, a cylindrical container mounted upon saidplate at apoint-spaced.

from said pivot point for rotation upon its own center of the container, to the periphery thereof. 4. An apparatus for winding freshly spun vis- Thus economies in operation are cose thread comprising a thread source, means for causing said thread to fall by gravity from a substantially fixed point, a driven shaft, a plate member mounted for axial rotation upon said shaft, a cylindrical receptacle mounted for axial rotation upon said plate at a point spaced from the center thereof, means for rotating said plate and independent means for rotating said receptacle at a considerably lower rate of speed than said plate whereby the thread is laid in an annular series of overlapping rings, each ring extending from a point adjacent the center of the receptacle to the periphery thereof.

5. In a method of manufacturing freshly spun, viscose rayon wherein a spinning solution is extruded into a precipitating medium to form filamentous thread and the thread is withdrawn therefrom and passed to a point of collection, the steps comprising, causing the thread to fall by gravity into a container rotating about its own axis while independently rotating the container about an axis spaced from the axis of the container whereby the thread is deposited in successive layers, each layer comprising an annular series of substantially circular commonly overlapping rings.

6. In a method of manufacturing freshly spun, viscose rayon wherein a spinning solution is extruded into a precipitating medium to form filamentous thread and the thread is withdrawn therefrom and passed to a point of collection, the steps comprising, causing the thread to fall .by gravity from a substantially fixed point into a container rotating about its own axis while independently rotating the container about an axis spaced from the axis of the container, the R. P. M. of the plate being many times that of the container whereby the thread is deposited in successive layers, each layer comprising an annular series of substantially circular commonly overlapping rings,

JAMES J. POLAK.

ARTHUR L. JACKSON. 

